Les Claypool and his band Primus might be hard to peg down, by design, but the bassist-singer man behind oddball hits like "Pork Soda" and South Park's theme song is actually quite traditional in his media consumption. For one, he's a true-blue western fan, which -- as he realized during the course of this chat -- might explain why he's taken to wearing masks when performing onstage. Given that Primus' latest album, the recently released Green Naugahyde, has a song titled "Lee Van Cleef," it's hardly a shock. We called Claypool up to further explore his proclivity for those saloon-door swingin', spittoon-fillin' westerns he loves so.

Primus - Lee Van Cleef

I'm a big fan of old film in general, but one of my top films of all time is Once Upon A Time In The West. It's a gorgeous piece of film, for one thing, with the Ennio Morricone soundtrack. Then you've got Charles Bronson, Jason Robards, and Henry Fonda playing a bad guy, which was very rare. It's just a spectacular film. I think it's one of the greatest films ever made. It's classic Sergio Leone, which of course a lot of contemporaries, especially Tarantino, are influenced by. It's one of those epic, epic films for me. One that I've seen many, many times and for me it's right up there with Godfather and films like that.

Once Upon A Time In The West (1968)

What is it about it that keeps you coming back so many times?

Well, besides the cast of characters, the storyline, and just the tension every scene has, it's always been amazing how Sergio Leone makes these films that look more like the real west than films that were actually shot in the real west. [Laughs.] They feel to me more historically accurate just as far as the clothing -- perhaps that's just my delusion. But it is pretty spectacular.

“Sergio Leone makes these films that look more like the real west than films that were actually shot in the real west. ”

To you, what are the trappings of a really great western?

There are different types of westerns. It's funny because my son, we were listening to Bob Wills And His Texas Playboys on my iPod. You'd hear this, "Ahhhaaaaa!" And my son, who is pretty young, would be like, "What is that music with the really high-pitched, annoying voice?" And I'd go, "That's cowboys." And he'd go, "What do you mean it's cowboys?" I go, "It's like the old western cowboys." He says, "That has nothing to do with cowboys." I say, "What are you talking about?" I realized to him the point of reference for cowboys was all these old Sergio Leone films I had shown him. He hadn't seen any of the old Lone Rangers or Gene Autry or any of those old cowboy films. It's interesting to see the interpretation as we move through the years of the cowboy in general.

Bob Wills - Lone Star Rag

But it all was a massive part of youth culture back when my father was a kid, cowboys. It was Star Wars-ish popular back in the day, with the Lone Ranger and Red Ryder BB Guns. I had a Red Ryder BB Gun. It was my stepdad's when he was a kid. But then [today] you got films like 3:10 To Yuma, that's an amazing film, Clint Eastwood's Unforgiven from a handful of years ago was one of his best films ever. I guess it's been several years ago now, but I would consider it a contemporary western.

“I had a Red Ryder BB Gun.”

In your point of view, how do the contemporary westerns stack up against the classic ones?

I think you're seeing a lot of guys who are influenced by Sergio Leone. Perhaps John Ford, I'm not sure. That type of influence is going to bring along these types of westerns. But even some of these films by [Robert] Rodriguez, like Machete and El Mariachi, those have those elements of Sergio Leone and that western vibe. Even No Country For Old Men, that's sort of a contemporary western set in contemporary times.

Yeah, or True Grit, which is set in less contemporary times.

Well, yeah, True Grit was spectacular. There you go. I was surprised how close to the original it was. A lot of people said, "Oh a lot different." It really wasn't, as far as dialog goes. It was pretty close. For its day, True Grit -- the original with John Wayne -- was a pretty ballsy movie, even for John Wayne, who was making these western films that were great but they were a lot safer. True Grit is a pretty gritty movie. You see Dennis Hopper get his fingers chopped off there at the table, and they try and kill the little girl by throwing her down in the pit of snakes. That's pretty gritty for a movie made in 1968, or whenever they made that.

Two Mules For Sister Sara (1970)

I saw that movie in theaters when I was a kid. Well, not in the theaters, but at the drive-in because my stepdad hated crowds. I remembered it scared the s*** out of me because there were those scenes where they're throwing the kerosene bombs and one guy gets shot. The kerosene goes all over him and he catches fire. That scared the s*** out of me when I was a kid. Another Ennio Morricone soundtrack, which is amazing. Clint Eastwood, Shirley MacLaine. The whole premise of him traveling with this nun, then getting turned on by the nun, helping her up this tree and having to push her ass up a tree. He's basically camping with this nun and he's got a boner the whole time. Then he finds out she's a prostitute in disguise. That's a pretty good premise.

“He's basically camping with this nun and he's got a boner the whole time. ”

So it was an appropriate boner, then.

Yeah, appropriate boner. He killed that rattlesnake and she had to shake it to scare off those French troops. That was pretty good. That sounds more phallic than it actually was.

High Noon (1952)

Tex Ritter singing the theme song, that's the best part for me. I mean, I love Gary Cooper, and always have, even though he's sometimes a little stiff. I did love old Gary Cooper, and that's a great one. But for me, the main thing I remember about High Noon is the theme song. The Tex Ritter theme song. That's my favorite bit about it.

The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962)

You've got John Wayne, Jimmy Stewart, and then as the bad guy you've got Lee Marvin. I think Strother Martin's in that one, too, and he's one of my all-time favorite guys. He was bargaining with the girl in the original True Grit, which was a classic scene, which they reproduced pretty well in the new one. I was pretty surprised.

What was the first western you remember making a big impression on you?

When I was a little kid I loved the Lone Ranger, the old TV series. Something about those heroes was compelling -- like the original '60s Batman and Tarzan -- but the Lone Ranger had the coolest song. The masked man? I had my mask on, would run around and pretend I was the Lone Ranger. Maybe there's something about wearing the mask? Maybe that's why I wear the pig mask all the time now. I'm the Pig Ranger. The Lone Pork Ranger. [Laughs.]

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